In the Wizard’s Cave

Some Highlights of the Making of the Tank

First task is to shape the base to fit around all of the obstacles under the tank. Terry used quarter hard 1050 Aluminium alloy for these pieces because it is easier to shape for this step of the job. To get as much capacity as possible from the file tank, we are taking full advantage of the fact that there is no top shock mount taking up space behind the engine.

The upper sections of the tank are formed from half hard 1050 Aluminium alloy. As you can see, Terry uses a combination of techniques and tools to get the required shape.
The English Wheel, on the right, is used to form and refine compound curves. When he is working on complex shapes, Terry spends whole days at a time working on the wheel, which requires a lot of physical effort.
A skilled metalworker like Terry Hall will use as few separate pieces of metal as possible to make up a finished component. Look closely at the picture on the left and you can see where sections have been welded together.

Getting towards the finished result. The pictures far left and above show just how much space is taken up by the air box on a modern motorcycle.
Terry reckons that we should have a final tank capacity of four gallons (just over 18 litres) and perhaps a bit more.That should be enough for about 140 miles – sufficient for a road going motorcycle, we think.
The picture of the underside of the tank shows just what lengths you have to go to on a modern bike to get the base of the tank to fit around all of the engine components. The welds are made using TIG (Tungsten Inert Gas).

Coming soon – more pictures of the finished tank and some shots of the bodywork

Enigma 1050 – a very British motorcycle being built in Hampshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Surrey, Sussex, Suffolk, Shropshire and Cambridgeshire.